What was the symbolic meaning behind Sai Baba grinding wheat in the mosque, and how did it affect the village?

The act of Sai Baba grinding wheat, as detailed in Chapter 1, was not a literal chore but a profound symbolic act. The people who witnessed it were initially baffled, but the true meaning was revealed later. According to the text, "The wheat was not wheat, but the cholera epidemic." Baba was symbolically grinding the disease itself, destroying its power in his divine mill. He then had the women, who represented the community, take this "flour"—the remnants of the vanquished disease—and throw it on the village boundary. This act of casting it out completed the spiritual cleansing. As Chapter 1 explains, the effect on the village was immediate and miraculous: "from there, the disease began to recede. The bad days ended immediately; such was Baba’s skill."